"I [expletive] Spock!"
Season 3 of Star Trek: The Original Series easily featured the least creative episodes on the whole when compared to the show’s first two years. However, one of the best installments of arguably the whole franchise came out of that mess, and it’s an intriguing 1969 story that explores one of Mr. Spock’s most emotional conflicts.
Actress Mariette Hartley guest-starred in "All Our Yesterdays," and she seems to take pride in the fact that her character, Zarabeth, had off-screen sex with our beloved Vulcan. “I [expletive] Spock!” She insisted during a new interview with That’s Classic!
In "All Our Yesterdays," Spock and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) are transported together to a barren, arctic past, generations before either of the Enterprise crew members were born. In that inhospitable setting, Spock begins to revert into the violent, emotional nature of his ancestors which leads to him having off-screen sex with Zarabeth (Hartley), who had been exiled there years before as punishment.
During the interview, Hartley also rightly points out, "Before he [Spock] met me, you know… I taught him how to eat meat."
Eating the flesh of dead animals in the past is just another emotion Spock experienced and enjoyed that he otherwise wouldn’t have in the 23rd century. Unfortunately, beyond those hilarious words about making love to Spock, Hartley didn’t have many positive things to say about her experience working on the classic sci-fi series, but she did give Nimoy his due. Hartley said:
“He was a good actor. He was a serious actor. Um, I thought he looked kind of funny, but he was pleasant, especially when he showed me how to do it [laughs]. That’s it.”
William Shatner, aka Captain James T. Kirk, was another matter altogether, though. While Hartley didn’t share any scenes with Shatner in "All Our Yesterdays," since she only worked with Nimoy and Kelley, the actress was extremely grateful that she didn’t have to pretend she was in love with Kirk. Hartley explained by saying:
“Thank God that didn’t have to be Bill [Shatner]. That was the main thing.”
Hartley also pointed out during the interview how short Shatner is, and she also revealed that he was wearing some sort of lifts when they met on the production of "All Our Yesterdays."
"He was wearing shoes this thick,” Hartley said as she used her hands to measure out about six to eight inches!
Additionally, Hartley rightfully complained about the skimpy cavewoman costume she had to wear as Zarabeth. “I had to wear that stupid bathing suit made of leather.” For what it’s worth, Hartley admits that she’s never really enjoyed "most" of the costumes she wore over the years as an actor — an impressive career spanning over 60 years.
Regardless of Hartley’s horror stories, I still love "All Our Yesterdays." However, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch Hartley kissing Nimoy again on screen without hearing her words in my head:
"I [expletive] Spock!"
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Live long and prosper, Trekkies!